Crash and Burn: The Story of Love or Hate
by Samsafanfic
Summary: Amu had always dreamed of the typical happily ever after... the mind-blowing kiss, and the perfect prince charming. But it seemed God put obstacles in her way to make her see, those dreams were mere illusions hiding her entire reality. Amuto.
1. Chapter 1

**Crash and Burn: The Story of Love or Hate**

**Dedicated to:**_  
-.- myhopelessromance -.-_

**Just because I love you.**

_Under the books and the dreamy smile,  
I'm still just a girl, under a love spell for a while._

-Samsafanfic-

**Chapter One: Not Ready To Go**

* * *

_Are you unhappy, or are you low?_

_I should be leaving but I'm not ready to go_

_I'm not ready to go_

_I'm not ready to go_

_"__Not Ready To Go__"__** - The Trews**_

There were beautiful trees and fields filled with a wonderful variety of wildflowers from where I came from. There were forests of trees that were filled with a canopy of leaves and a whole bunch of beautiful colors that flourished wherever I went.

Our home had been a nice, medium sized cottage that sat on a hill that overlooked our humble village. I didn't need a gigantic mall, a sports car, or a richly furnished school to make me happy. Just the fresh, clear oxygen in the air, the faint glowing lights of the village at night, and the sprinkle of stars in the dark, night sky. That was all I needed… all I've ever needed.

Too bad I was leaving all of that behind.

The city was everything I hated. I could tell that it would take me a lot of time getting used to it. As we left our village behind and crept closer towards the city, I could already see the tinge of grey in the sky, the tell tale sign of pollution in the air. The burst of wind passing past my face through the open window was tainted with the city gas.

It disgusted me.

"You're mad at me, aren't you?" Mom accused from the driver's seat. I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand on end at her gaze but she already knew the answer.

I didn't understand why she thought I deserved this, since I've never really been the rebellious kind of child. Needless to say, my routines at home were fairly simple. I'd wake up, eat breakfast, brush my teeth, throw on a pair of pants and a sweater and go to school. Once I returned home, I would help out in the kitchen, go watch the sun set on the porch with a book in my hands, finish my homework and then get to bed, hopefully a bit of daydreaming in between everything.

I liked to be alone, left to my own thoughts and my own devices. School wasn't any different. I was just happy that I blended in, a shadow of a student that came and left school without disturbing anyone.

You could actually say that I was lonely. Not that I minded, really.

But now...

"Amu-chan, please," my mom begged, a tinge of guilt in her voice. Just hearing her this way made my heart ache.

"I'm not mad, mom," I told her softly, pushing a small smile her way.

"I just want you to see what it's like here!" She said, still a tad on the defensive side. "There's a beautiful school that you'll absolutely love! I'm positive!" She seemed so excited for me. She'd been squealing all morning about this new school of mine and the more she did, the less excited I became.

"Like I said, I'm fine. I just wish it wasn't a boarding school."

That's right. She was driving me to a school where I would stay in a dorm, with a stranger. This meant that I'd have to interact with this stranger… everyday! Interacting with my mom was hard enough. But with a stranger?!? Never gonna to happen.

I mean, if I have difficulties letting the woman that brought me into this world talk to me, then what were the chances that I'd feel comfortable talking to some other person?

"Mom, I really don't think this is a good idea," I told her for what seemed to be the hundredth time. "You know what I think about city kids."

I turned away from the window to look at my mom. Her hands were firm on the wheel, her eyes gazing intently on the road before her. I looked like her. Or so I've heard. In my opinion, I couldn't see the resemblance at all.

She had auburn curls that cascaded down past her shoulders, ending just below her shoulder blades. Her eyes were a sparkly honey that flared with life. She was beautiful, to put it simply.

Me, the puny girl at her side, her daughter… wasn't. Well, it was safe to say I wasn't horrendously ugly. I was just… plain. Unlike my mother, I had pink, straight hair that curled at the tips. It was a couple of shades darker than bubble-gum pink, and fell just past my shoulders. My eyes were a boring golden-brown, the same as my dad's, who unfortunately, had died a few months before.

There were days when I'd look in the mirror and wonder who the girl in the mirror was. And sometimes, I surprised myself. I wasn't ugly, but I wasn't pretty either.

"Amu," my mom sighed, clearly a bit frustrated with me. "Can't you just try this? For me, please?"

I rolled my eyes, looking at her earnest expression. She could be such a drama queen at times. "I wouldn't be sitting in this car if I wasn't doing this for you, Mom," I told her pointedly.

She smiled my way; _taking her eyes off of the road_ and I jumped, steadying the wheel with my own hands. "Mom! How many times have I told you to keep your eyes on the road?!"

She was a hazard to society, that much was for sure. And I'm am _not _being a drama queen—she's just about as clumsy as me… and that's definitely saying something.

She chuckled at my expense and I sighed with relief when she complied. "I'm going to try, okay? I'm just saying now, that it's only because I love you so much, that I'm doing this."

"I love you too," my mom replied sweetly. "And you know, when I finish my tour for "You Can Do Better", we'll take that trip to wherever like that I promised you, okay?"

"Sure, mom."

My mom was an author. She wrote a lot of books for adults and teens. I've read a few of them, including the one that she would be touring the world to advertise. It was called "You Can Do Better" and it was about woman and dating. How we ladies had to increase our standards for the men that we should date and how we could do better than the lying/cheating/using/abusive exes of our past.

She's a specialist for the whole dating thing. Most of her books were either romantic comedies, beauty tips, how to get the man of your dreams, or just something to make women feel better about themselves. I thought it was all a little pathetic, but then again, that's just me. I didn't believe in the internet dating, phone dating, blind dating scene. All of it just seemed to scream pathetic.

She had, of course, tried to set me up with some boys, but all of them had ended horribly. I like to think that the boys thought I was too boring for their tastes. My mom said it was because they were nervous around me.

Pfft. Nervous my arse.

Not that I cared about boys. Having a boyfriend? Ha! I could easily do without them. I was my mom's worst nightmare because… well, I despised guys.

Okay, fine. I didn't despise guys. It's just, well… screw the boys! They're hopeless! Of course, I've had a few thoughts about what it would be like having a boyfriend. I mean, even the most dense, most anti-boyfriend person has had those thoughts. Even lesbians have those thoughts! [And no, I am definitely _not _a lesbian. I just don't think that guys are worth the trouble!]

But for me… I find the greatest comfort in books. It was kind of ironic how I found the most perfect boyfriends and they were fictional. Don't try to point out the patheticalness in that. I'm well aware of it.

It was just so frustrating that boys in the real world were pig-headed, conceited, selfish, insensitive, inconsiderate—Ack!!

Don't get me wrong. I like boys as friends. As something other than that? Don't think so. I feel like I'll forever stay single. I'll never have a boyfriend, husband, or children. I personally think it's better to adopt. Too many orphans; not enough parents.

What brought up this strange attitude towards guys? Well, it happened when I lost my first kiss…

It had been on one of the few dates set up by my mom and when Kioshi—I don't even remember his last name—had started pushing his face closer to mine, I had been stupid enough to be curious about what it'd feel like. He looked like an idiot with his lips puckered and his cheeks scrunched up, but still, I had placed my lips on his.

What a mistake that was.

I've never really understood how couples enjoyed the act of kissing after that. It was gross, wet and strangely animalistic. They must be forced to kiss. I had later come to the conclusion that kissing was the downside of having a boyfriend. It was something you had to do—were forced to do. Perhaps it was in the unwritten book of 'being a couple' that my mother has yet to write. After that kiss with Kioshi, I've never kissed anyone else. It was just… unnecessary.

Needless to say, Kioshi looked too… pleased about it, and for the life of me, I couldn't, and have yet to understand _why_.

"Remember, Amu. I'm coming into your dorm room with you to see if it's clean enough. I'm giving you my card, so you can buy whatever you need to make your room more livable. I'd hate to see you sitting on your bed, lonely, when at least you can be lonely _and_ comfortable at the same time."

I smiled. My mom was so thoughtful… in a weird kind of way, seeing as she pictured me being lonely… damn… she knew me too well.

"You know all I need is food, right? I'm not going to take advantage of my own mom just because she's going on tour."

She shot me a pointed look, _taking her eyes off the road _again.

"Mom," I warned in a growl.

"Buy an alarm clock. If you're late to your class's everyday because you can't wake up in time, I'm going to kill you!"

"Sure, mom," I said, though I knew I'd probably just use my cell's alarm.

She placed a warm hand on my thigh and gave it a light squeeze. "You're my only daughter—only _child_—and I want to do everything I can for you. I'm not going to have another child after your dad passed away, so please make me happy, and take my credit card… okay? It's the least I can do when I can't see you for a while," she urged, already rummaging in her purse to look for the credit card in question.

"Mom, seriously, I don't think—"

"Don't 'Mom' me. Just take the card!!"

I took it from her hand and looked at it without much interest. "It's unlimited. I can pay for it with my savings account that Ji-chan left for me."

"Thanks, Mom."

"Don't worry about it, kiddo."

We sat in an awkward silence for a while, looking out at the city flashing past our car windows until we stopped at a pair of large iron gates that were open and inviting.

I gulped at the view. "Mom, you weren't kidding! This place is _gigantic_!" Think about me! You know how easily I get lost!

I was horrified to hear the twinge of anxiety in my voice. This was _terrible_! This place was so big, I would get lost the second I stepped foot in that school. Everything was ten times bigger than my small town school, and I hated it. This was just one more thing to hate about the city; they made small towns look so puny.

"Wow! It's everything I thought it'd be and more! I'm so excited for you!" she chirped, driving past the gates and up to a large brick building with a sign that read Alice B.

"I think this is your dorm building. Either this one or Alice D, let me check." [The school is named Alice Blackstone Academy, after a supposedly famous _city _principal.]

She rummaged in her huge purse, another strange fetish of hers, and dug up a crumpled up, large and yellow envelope that I recognized to contain all of my school information.

"Yup, it's this one, let's go," Mom called, excited. She was practically bouncing in her seat. "I made sure they brought all of your stuff late yesterday night so you could settle in today!!"

I yanked open the car door and stepped out into the afternoon sun, the light bouncing off of the windows of my dorm building flashed before my eyes. "I know mom, you told me this morning and twice in the car," I reminded her.

She smiled sheepishly in return.

I started walking with my mother at my side towards the dorm building and I couldn't help but notice that boys and girls alike turned to admire my mother. She was beautiful… and I could hear the whispers around us like bees buzzing around my head.

"_Hey, there's a new girl in town and I can't wait to get to know her..."_

"_Oh God. Look how much make-up she has on… how else do you get that perfect tint of pale but not pale…?"_

"_Beautiful…"_

It would be a lie to say that I wasn't bothered by this. I mean, this was my _mother_ they were talking about!! New girl in town? Sure, we were new but … even though my mother looked young, she definitely couldn't pass as a fifteen year old teenager like me! Make-up? My mom barely wore any make up!

But that last one was dead on. She was beautiful. No doubt about it.

My mother was a person that made you feel insignificant walking beside her. She had a graceful stride that made her look like she floated and just the jubilant look on her face made her look all the more astounding.

At times like these, I felt so small compared to her.

My mom looked my way, throwing me a reassuring smile before squeezing my hand. "Aren't you excited?!" she whispered conspiratorially, like what she was saying was a secret to my ears and only my ears.

I smiled back, catching her ecstatic mood. "Yes," I whispered back, another smile gracing my lips, "—I am." Not.

We stopped at the check-in counter somewhere near my dorm and my mom checked me in while I waited at the side, looking over the huge campus. I was appalled at the vastness of everything! In the distance, I could hear laughter and there were already groups of friends, talking and hanging out nearby.

The start of the semester would be next week and I felt so small and lonely in this vast campus. Everyone had friends of their own… why would they want to make room for someone like me?

I could only shudder at the thought of starting classes next week. Maybe if I sat at the back of the class near the window, I'd attract less attention.

I smiled at the thought.

A few boys stopped curiously before me and I could only flush with embarrassment and slink to a different corner. What did they want from me? Was I smiling at nothing again?

I put a hand to my cheek and was horrified to feel the definite heat on my cheeks. _Remain unnoticed… remain unnoticed…_

"Mikan, let's go. I have your key card," my mother called and before I could scan the interested faces that were looking for the famous author's daughter, I rushed in a step in front of her, still hoping to stay out of the public eye.

"Slow down, honey. I have the key card, remember?"

I slowed down. "Mom, could you not speak so loud in public!? I'm trying to keep a low profile, okay? And so far, the more you yell around, the more people keep looking my way!"

She smiled smugly. "Maybe, Amu, it's because you're so beautiful."

I snorted with laughter. "Mom, that's the last thing I am."

"Are you saying that your father and I didn't produce a beautiful child?" she asked, her voice hard with sadness when my father was brought into the situation.

I sighed softly, walking in step behind her. "That's not what I mean."

She shot me a wary look and stopped in front of a closed door, directly at the end of the hall. "Okay, number 584. This is it, Mikan. Now close your eyes and don't open them until I tell you to."

My mom probably had the camera in her hands. She loved to document every moment of my life. A major milestone. Like my first step, when I graduated from potty-training and my first missing tooth… and now this.

I heard the click of the camera's shutters and the swish of the key card in its assigned slot. The slow turn of the knob before she whispered, "Alright… Open!"

I did and I almost screamed.

I could hear the clicks from the camera going off in front of me as my mother documented the moment.

In front of me stood a girl with sparkling purple eyes, long blond hair held up on either side of her head in pigtails, and a frown on her lips. Her arms were folded and her right hip jutted out in an odd angle. Under her eyes were dark black circles and her left foot was tapping, annoyingly on the floor. But even then, she was very pretty…

"H-Hi there, I'm Hinamori Amu," I stammered, my eyes shot to the floor with embarrassment as my mother continued to snicker and take pictures of me.

The smooth voice that replied had a hint of annoyance as she said, "Hoshina Utau. And I can't say that I'm happy to meet you."

Oh, joy.

* * *

**Here it is: The response to a challenge someone proposed to me via private message. Remember people, this is a work of **_fanfiction_, **therefore Amu's character is different… **_**very much so**_**. Especially since the challenge was Mikan being a bookworm, first person POV only, high school, and their pariah as students. Hope I did a decent job… **

_Samsafanfic_


	2. Chapter 2

**Crash and Burn: The Story of Love or Hate**

**Dedicated to:**_  
-.- myhopelessromance -.-_

**Just because I love you.**

_Under the books and the dreamy smile,  
I'm still just a girl, under a love spell for a while._

-Samsafanfic-

**Chapter Two: Should I Stay or Should I Go**

* * *

_Darling, you gotta let me know_

_Should I stay or should I go?_

_If you say that you are mine_

_I'll be there till the end of time._

_So you gotta let me know_

_Should I stay or should I go?_

_"__Should I Stay or Should I Go__" - __**The Clash**_

The first thing I noticed about Hoshina Utau was her intimidating aura. Just looking at her, with her arms crossed over her chest and the dark scowl on her face made me want to cower in a dark corner. It was safe to say that I never liked confrontations of any sort, and with my roommate radiating hostility in waves, I couldn't work up the courage to do or say a thing.

So there I was, standing out in the hallway with the door flung open, looking wide eyed and open mouthed at the girl before me. My mom was just a shadow in the background; the sharp clicks of her camera coming to a stop as she looked from my roommate to me.

Hoshina huffed angrily, her green eyes flashing. When she spoke, her voice was tense and hard. "Hurry up and get in, then. There's no use having you out in the hallways."

Turning on her heel, she swept into the room, the automatic lights turned on with a ping. Hesitantly, I walked in slowly, looking at the big cardboard boxes that littered the ground packed high above the other, along with a few suitcases with my clothes inside.

From behind me, my mother whistled appreciatively. "You girls have it good," she exclaimed cheerily, squealing and sweeping into the room. "Boarding school was never this good in my day!!"

"That's because your day was way, _way_ back in the dinosaur era," I muttered quietly, frowning at the back of her head.

She shot me a raised eyebrow before peering over boxes. "These are all yours, darling. I knew delivering them yesterday would make it easier for you," she crooned.

"Yes, it just so happens that they started their delivery at two in the morning and didn't finish until five o'clock," Hoshina snarled angrily.

She glared at me and sniffed, "Needless to say, you aren't very popular with the girls of this dorm building. Everyone was awake _and_ angry when their beauty sleep was disrupted."

I gulped quietly and an image of a ton of girls with their arms crossed and glares on their faces appeared right before my eyes. If everyone in my dorm hated me, before I had even stepped into the campus grounds, I could only anticipate the welcome that they'd give me once school actually started.

A shiver ran down my spine.

"Oh! I'm so sorry about that!!" my mom called, her voice sugar coated and her eyes wide; eyelashes batting with an artful innocence. "I never thought about the disturbance it must've been to you. Poor thing," my mom cried, running up to my roommate and brushing her bed hair away from her face.

I groaned, mortified with embarrassment as my mother opened her arms wide, ushering Utau-san into a hug. With a frown on her face, she shuffled into my mother's awaiting arms and stiffened as my mother gave her a bone-crushing embrace.

She was a goner.

My mother had charisma. She had a way of _making_ you like her. She was someone that was hard to hate and harder to ignore. With just one hug, my mother had melted my room mate's hostility.

How did I know?

A few seconds before, she had looked ready to eat a pack of wolves, but now, she looked like a tamed koala, her eyes sheepish and admiring.

"Do you feel better now, sweetheart?" my mother asked, concerned, peeling her arms away from the green haired girl.

With a relaxing sigh, Utau-san nodded with a smile. "Thanks, I needed that."

My mom smiled. She turned towards me though, a small frown still on her lips as she looked me over with a critical eye, circling me like a predator would with its prey.

"You have the worst fashion sense I've ever seen in my life," was her blunt comment as she returned to face me, a smirk on her face. "Maybe having you as a roommate won't be as bad as I thought it'd be," she finished airily, placing her hands on her hips, her eyebrow arched with a predatory grin on her face. "God knows what Mashiro-san will do when she sees you, though. Her blood type is AB… after all and all yesterday, she looked fit enough to kill."

"Mashiro-san…?"

Her eyebrows rose once again, this time with intrigue. "You didn't know? We have the best dorm room in the building because we can afford it," she answered, looking at her nails critically like she was frequently pampered. "—but because of that, three girls share it. You, me and Mashiro-san. That makes three," she explained, holding up a manicured hand with three fingers up in the air.

I wanted to say that I knew how to count but my heart was beating fast and my breathing increased. "And this – _Mashiro _- wants to kill me?" I gulped, looking frantically from her to my mom.

She sniffed haughtily, turning her head away with her chin in the air. "Well I wouldn't say _kill _exactly, but if she did kill you, her father's commander and chief of Japan's police crews. I wouldn't be surprised if he gladly looked the other way if his daughter murdered someone."

My eyes were probably as large as plates and I sputtered. "Oh - my - _gosh_!!"

"She's just kidding, Mikan!!" my mother cried, running to my side and taking my hands in hers. I looked at her with accusatory eyes; narrowed and deadly. "You never told me that I'd be staying here with _two _girls."

"What difference does it make?" my mother asked, innocently puzzled.

I put a finger to my chin, mocking a thoughtful stance; the sarcasm coming from my mouth was only too obvious. "Oh, I don't know. One room mate hates me and the other wants to _kill _me!"

My mom smiled, then faltered when she looked down at her watch. "I'm sure Utau-chan doesn't _hate_ you, do you dear?" my mom asked, darting a smile at my room mate.

She shrugged.

I noticed that she didn't answer the question.

"Look honey, I really wanted to help you unpack your luggage, but the plane will be coming in three hours and I need to say the rest of my goodbyes. Are you going to be okay here?" she asked, her eyes were actually concerned.

I looked past her shoulders at my room mate, her eyebrows furrowed as she looked our way, deep in thought. Ignoring her, I looked back at my mother and lowered my voice, "Look mom, just promise me that when your tour is over, you'll come pick me up first thing, okay?"

My eyes darted back and forth between my roommate and my mom, hurrying before she could make the connection; my mom was a pretty famous author, after all. "I'll be fine. I've dealt with this kind of thing before but if my other roommate intends to kill me, will you understand if I run for my life?"

My mom's face broke out into a smile and she patted my hair soothingly. "You're not going anywhere, Mikan." She pulled me into the same tight hug as she had with my room mate and instantly, I started melting, my resolve crumbling like a castle of cards.

She fought unfairly.

"I love you," she called after pecking my forehead with a kiss. "And make sure you have some fun while I'm gone!!"

I sighed warily, "I love you too."

She walked over to my roommate, pausing to whisper a few words to her before handing her what looked like two copies of "You Can Do Better."

"Bye Amu-chan," she sang, giving me a tiny wave. The door slammed shut a second later and I was acutely aware of the other presence in the room.

She watched me with narrowed, flashing purple eyes and I shuffled on the spot, my feet and heart were restless under her scrutiny. I clasped my hands together and sighed, finally looking up at her. "Look, I'm really sorry that your sleep was disturbed last night, and I know that you hate me a lot right now, but can we, at least _try _to get along?"

I held my breath as she continued to look at me; her expression was bland and disinterested as she fiddled with the leather bindings of the book.

"I wouldn't say that I _hated_ you, really," Utau-san replied airily, shuffling into the entry to another room.

I followed uncertainly but stopped once she came back, her hands free. "Can we start over as friends, then?" I asked meekly, eyes downcast to the floor afraid of the look of disgust that I imagined on her face.

A sigh from above made my ears prick before I hesitantly pulled my eyes to meet hers. They were the same flashing purple but the hostility was gone; well, most of it was gone.

"I don't let just anyone be friends with me, you know," she told me bluntly, her expression still bland. "You'll have to win me over in some way."

I scrunched my nose up, confused. "Win you . . . over?"

She rolled her eyes and her intense gaze rooted me to the spot. "You have to win my trust, Hinamori. For now, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and I'll erase all of the murderous intent that I've felt for you up to this moment."

I gulped.

She was so serious.

"O-okay, I'll d-do my best."

She narrowed her eyes and started walking towards me. "First rule, you can't talk like that to me in public. You sound like an ostrich," she advised.

She circled me one more time. "Second of all, you _have_ to let me look at your wardrobe. What you're wearing is so… well, _odd_. My mother would disapprove instantly."

"I'm not changing how I dress just because you city kids don't like it. And I don't dress bad," I rolled my eyes, listening closely as she snorted.

"Contrary to what you think, this is pretty bad," I heard her say. "Besides, this is the famous Alice Blackstone Academy Boarding School. Not just anyone gets accepted here, you know."

"What do you mean??" I asked, thoroughly confused, making my way slowly towards the closest cardboard box. "Oh, and can you tell me which room is mine?"

I heard her mutter "I'm not a _slave_," as she slowly left the large living room crowded with my belongings. She led the way down a wide hallway and I immediately spotted two glass sliding doors that slid open to reveal a moderate kitchen and dining room. It wasn't too large, seeing as we would be getting food at the large bazaar and food court inside the school grounds but it was big compared to ordinary dorm rooms that I had imagined. Across the kitchen was a bedroom with a golden name plate nailed onto the door that read, "Mashiro Rima"

A shiver passed through my entire body as I read her name. Quickly falling back in step beside Utau-san, we walked past another door that led into a medium-sized bathroom with nothing too special; just a large bath tub, sink, cupboards, toilet and other essentials.

"I know, I was horrified too," Utau called from down the hall. "The rooms are _way_ better, though!!"

I wanted to tell her that I thought the dorm rooms we had were great but I kept my mouth shut. She could think what she wanted; I preferred not to fight with her anyway.

At the very end of the hall, there was a gold plate tacked onto the door with my name. By the time Utau had thrown open the doors, I had caught up with her and admired the view.

It really was a beautiful room. Nothing extremely special but nothing too ordinary either. There was a simple bed with a new mattress placed on the iron bed structure waiting to be covered by my bedspreads and blanket. In the room, there was a desk, lamp, bedside table and a dresser of drawers provided. The walls were coated in my favorite teal blue. But the best thing of all was that the place was really spacious and all I had to do was fill up the excess space with all of my stuff.

"That door over there leads to your private bathroom," she pointed. "If it means that we won't be sharing with everyone else, it'll have to do," Utau sniffed airily. "You might want to throw your windows open. Something smells like gym socks," she commented. Then she shrugged, "Or that could just be you, but frankly, I don't go up to random people and start sniffing them."

I snorted. "Thanks, Hoshina-san."

Utau grimaced audibly and turned me around roughly by the shoulders. She narrowed her eyes into a glare and hissed, "Don't call me that."

I shrugged my shoulders, surprising even myself at my nonchalance. "'Kay Utau, whatever you say."

I felt the lump in my throat as she narrowed her eyes again, her purple eyes searched something on my face. But then, in a flash, she grinned at me, shaking her head in disbelief. "You're weird,"

She turned away and started back to the living room filled with the boxes of my stuff, and I stayed back a bit before following. Pondering about what she had said and the strange change in her attitude, I knew that she was slowly getting used to me. At least she was giving me a chance and really, that was more than I could ever ask for.

"Hurry up, Hinamori!" she called from the other room. "This is a once in a lifetime offer; I'm going to help you get these damn boxes to your room so hurry your arse up!!"

I smiled.

* * *

Surprisingly enough, Hoshina Utau wasn't as bad as I thought she'd be.

Sure, she was a bit arrogant, haughty, and had a big ego, but she was also very generous and considerate. She did, however, try to hide the fact that she was helping me with an "I'm not doing this for you, Hinamori. It just so happens that I want to make fun of your horrible fashion sense by unpacking your horrible clothes."

Oh yeah. She was a fashion freak, too; I blame it on her mother.

We had already carried all of the boxes into my room at breakneck speed, and at the moment, I was spreading a new set of bed sheets onto my bed with Utau speaking animatedly about every article of clothing that she extracted from my suitcase. In the background, I heard the muffled sound of the front door closing.

I looked through the open doorway of my bedroom just in time to see a girl about my age. Her hair was in shining blond ringlets to her waist. Her skin was a pasty alabaster, just like the color of a precious porcelain china doll, and she was petite.

She turned in my direction; her deep, piercing eyes staring right through me.

"You're Hinamori Amu." Her voice was silky and slightly monotone, echoing down the hall.

I nodded at her statement because it sure hadn't sounded like a question. She continued to look at me, scanning over my face. I was glad that there wasn't a look of disgust there, but then again, she hadn't changed her facial expression since she had walked into the room. I got up from my bed and made my way out the door, completely ignoring Utau's continuous rants. I stopped five feet away from her, already feeling the strong confidence that radiated off of her body.

"Mashiro Rima?" I asked quietly.

She rolled her eyes. "It's obvious, isn't it?"

I nodded, my eyes darting away from her penetrating gaze down towards the ground. "Look, I'm really sorry about the movers at two o'clock in the morning."

She shrugged and walked into her room, leaving me standing in the hallway, confused. Just as I was about to leave, her voice called me back and I walked uncertainly into the doorway. "Yes?"

She looked at me, holding out a piece of paper in her hands. "This is the amount that you owe me. I'll be expecting it some time in the next two weeks."

Stunned, I looked down at the thin piece of paper in my hands and the amount of zeroes astounded me. "What is this?!" I shrieked, my arms flailing manically. "It wasn't even my fault! I didn't even want to go here! How can you make me pay something this extraordinary when this wasn't even my fault?!"

The corners of her mouth twitched and I heard the creak of the door that alerted me of Utau's eavesdropping presence. I ignored everything except the look of aloofness on Mashiro's face.

"You're annoying," she replied sullenly, her eyes emotionless and unmoving.

I gaped at her, unable to believe my luck. This girl might not want to kill me, but she hated me, that much was for sure!

"And you're a sadist," I snarled back, slamming a hand over my mouth a little too late.

From behind me, I could hear Utau snickering as she watched our exchange of words, but I was too mortified to give her any notice. Instead, I watched Mashiro Rima arch an inquisitive eyebrow at me, her thin lips pursed into a line. When she spoke, her voice was even, "I don't care what you think about me."

"Well, I could say the same to you."

"Yes, but you don't really mean that," she replied quietly. I snapped my gaze in her direction, confused and uncertain. What did she mean by that? For the first time, my eyes didn't waver when I looked into this stranger's eyes. I suppose it was because I wanted to see how she could look at me for the first time and already see my insecurities.

She answered my unspoken question for me. She lowered her voice so that Utau couldn't hear and bent her head towards my ear. "Because girls like you and me are different. We're special, Hinamori_-san_," she replied slowly. "Do your best here."

A small smile darted across her lips as she pulled away and just as quickly, it slipped off into a thin line, once again.

"Let's go around campus. Utau and I can show you around," she offered stoically, heading for the door. She turned around to look at me silently and said, "For a price, that is."

I didn't think she needed to add that last bit but nevertheless, I smiled.

"I can't go outside looking like this!!" Utau shrieked, a blurred form breezing past me.

"You look fine, Utau," I reassured her from outside the door of her room that connected to the living room. The muffled voice from within snorted before saying, "School starts in one week and we can't afford to make a bad impression when we go out!"

I was about to say that we'd all do a fine job with our first impressions but she beat me to it.

"Not that you have anything to worry about," she hollered.

I rolled my eyes, grabbing my wallet from my purse and stuffing it into the middle pocket of my hoodie. Glancing at the stoic girl at the door, I chanced a small smile her way and was surprised to receive one in return.

Maybe it was safe to say that she didn't want to murder me, after all.

When Utau had finally come out of her room, she was wearing a nice flowing white skirt with a spring green tank top under a brown summer jacket. The area around her eyes no longer dark with exhaustion and her hair was pulled into higher ponytails, a purse thrown over one shoulder.

"Well, let's go!" she called, the first one out the door. I snickered along with Mashiro and followed her out.

* * *

It was just about four o'clock in the afternoon when we walked out of our dorm building. The other girls in our dorm looked at me with glares on their faces and I sincerely hoped that it wasn't because of the racket that the movers had made at two in the morning.

But I found that with Mashiro and Utau by my side, I could feel a little more confident, instead of the painful shyness that I was used to.

"Oh right, I wanted to ask you both, if you could call me Amu…" I asked, the flush of heat on my cheeks were a sign of my embarrassment.

From beside me, they both shrugged. "Same, you can call me Utau." I already did… but… okay.

"Rima."

I smiled, testing the names on my lips, loving the way it rolled off my tongue. "You have a beautiful name, Rima-chan," I murmured softly, glancing at her from the corner of my eye. She rolled her eyes in return.

"Oh what? So my name's ugly now?" Utau growled angrily beside me.

"Not really. I just like her name better," I commented truthfully. From beside me, Rima snickered and I failed to keep the smile off my face as I laughed right along with her.

Utau didn't think it was all that funny.

"I've been here longer than the both of you have," she said, changing the subject swiftly. "I want to check out the food courts, there's supposed to be a band of irresistibly, hot male specimens that I've been dying to observe," she explained, her eyes glazing over as she sighed dramatically, her hands clasped in front of her.

"Oh, so you both are new here too?" I asked, pleasantly surprised.

"Yeah," Utau replied dreamily. "But I can get the stats easily enough by the second day."

"Stats?" I frowned and looked over at Rima, who had not changed her expression since we left our dorm room. "What do you mean by 'stats'?" I asked, turning over to look at her, stumbling over a crack in the ground.

Utau laughed at me before turning her dark lavender eyes to mine. "You know," she said with a wink. "The stats of the hot guys in school," she explained with a roll of her eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"If you want to be popular in schools like these, you have to get in with the "in-crowd"," she murmured under her breath when a group of giggling girls walked past us. "I know from experience about how these schools work and if you happen to be able to snag the hottest or most popular guy in school, you're golden."

I frowned at her explanation. "Well, that's not very nice, is it?" I answered her questionably. "I mean, I'm not going to use someone like that and besides," I whispered once more as another pack of people brushed past us, "It's not a goal of mine to become the prettiest or most popular girl in school."

"Why not?!" Utau asked, horribly surprised. From beside me, I heard Rima agree, "Yes, why is that?"

I flushed with embarrassment. "I don't do well under peer pressure," I answered. "And besides, even if I did become most popular, which I won't," I replied hastily at Utau's intense glare. "- I find that when you're on top, the only way you can go is down, right?"

I looked from one girl, then to the other. Rima's small smile flashed across her face before slipping away once again and I wondered if I had imagined it. Utau's expression was different though. She was frowning with concentration, her eyes glazed while she was deep in thought.

"I guess," she answered uncertainly. Then she sniffed and said, "Well, when I become most popular, I'll be sure to _stay _there."

She sounded so sure.

We neared the food court as the amazing scents wafted to me. With a mix of fries, crispy chicken and a slew of other different foods, the food court was enormous. Not only were there stalls and concession stands of food, there were also lines of restaurants from classy ones further away to the fast food restaurants that were clustered together, closest to us. The square was massive and looking down the road, the never ending restaurants lined the sides of the streets.

"Just how big is this school anyway?" I asked, amazed.

"Bigger than it looks," Utau replied airily. "I heard they built a shopping district right outside the campus for us but technically, that isn't part of our campus."

I whistled appreciatively like my mother had and walked to the closest ice cream stand, offering to get the other girls some ice cream.

We walked down the streets, occasionally looking into the windows and promising to try out places that caught our attention. As we neared the benches and tables that were clustered around the middle of the food court, I marveled at the beauty of it all. There were tablecloths and napkins on each table and plastic forks and other plastic cutlery for the fast food consumers that wanted to eat outdoors.

I looked around the place and suddenly felt so small compared to the grandeur of the place. The eating area already was marvelous, what else did this school have that my other school hadn't?

People. This place had so many people. There were hundreds of students already in the square and the majority of them were clustered around a certain table. My curiosity peaked when I saw some slapping occuring in the circle, as well.

"What's going on over there?" Rima murmured, nodding in the direction of the crowd of teenagers.

"Let's check it out!" Utau called, running closer to the pack of teenagers, guys and gals all surrounding whomever or whatever was in the middle of the circle.

Rima and I fell behind, enjoying our ice cream cones, watching with amusement as Utau tried in vain to get through the pushing crowd. Once we had caught up, Utau shrieked loudly, _"Get the hell out of my way!!"_

Heads turned to look at her questionably and moved to accommodate her wishes. She smirked triumphantly at us before pulling my wrist as I pulled Rima along.

The crowd parted and looked at us. I flushed with embarrassment.

I shrugged the thought off as we neared the middle of it all. "Why are we doing this again?" I muttered under my breath. "We don't even know what's in the middle of this crowd."

"Well, we're going to find out soon, won't we?" Utau smirked, a curious glint in her eyes.

"This better be good," Rima grumbled angrily, swiping a hand that neared her ice cream cone. "These people are gross."

Suddenly, Utau stopped dead in her tracks, causing me to bump into her back, the tip of my ice cream cone smearing the back of her shirt. I expected her to be mad at me; I expected her to make a scene and start flailing her arms around but she didn't do anything.

Utau didn't even seem to notice and my ears pricked upon hearing her quick intake of air as her ice cream cone fell to the floor, the ice cream molding to the ground.

"Hey!!" I cried, slightly offended that she'd let it drop so carelessly. "I bought that, Utau, and now the person that cleans up this place will have more work to do because of you!!" I cried, glaring at the back of her head as I bent to my knees to pick up the fallen cone, looking around to find a garbage can.

"Why are you so quiet?" I asked, looking over her face with worry. I looked back at Rima who had her eyes twinkling with interested delight.

"Why are you guys so quiet?" I asked, confused. "It looks like you've seen God or something," I muttered, turning to the direction in which they were looking.

My eyes were on the ground, as usual, so the first thing I saw were a pair of black and white sneakers that were in great condition, though by the small scuffs on the tip of the shoes, I knew that they weren't new.

My gaze travelled up a pair of long legs clad in a pair of black pants up to a crisp, white button-up shirt, noticing the broad shoulders and the flutter of the shirt that caught the wind. I knew it was a boy before I even looked up to his face but when I did, I was surprised to be looking into a pair of ominous deep blue eyes… a shade of blue I couldn't even begin to describe …

My first thought was that he was a vampire and I mentally slapped myself in the face for thinking about that. His eyes weren't red or anything… it was just that his striking good looks mixed with his mysterious aura hinted to that... well, at least for a book-worm like me… I don't think any normal person even would've chanced that conclusion! But, as if reading my thoughts, a smirk flitted across his lips before he said, "Don't worry, I don't bite…

…_hard."_

I flushed red and stared open mouthed with horror as the sound of screaming filled my ears. But in my surprised state, I was oblivious to the fact that the screams from the girls weren't because they were afraid—it was because they were love struck and I didn't understand _why..._

_Was there something that I was missing...?_

* * *

**To answer a popular question:] , Mikan is a nickname for Amu that I came up with, because I was thinking of writing a story where Amu loves oranges… I guess I could work that into this story, since I already accidently used Mikan in the first chapter. So yes, it was in fact a mistake on my fault… I need a beta reader… lol…**

_**Samsafanfic**_


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